Wednesday, June 10, 2009

CONTEST TODAY!!! One LCB wins a 'graphed copy of "Goddess of the Hunt" courtesy of Tessa. Pls. make your email addy available in your profile or comment to enter, or check 2 see if you won.From Michelle:Tessa Dare's lovely debut novel, "Goddess of the Hunt," drops July 28, but she returns to RBTB today to introduce the series and get us ready for the Regency Dating Game. Plus, she's talking childhood sweethearts and telling a story I don't quite remember the same way she does. Please DARE to offer her a warm, "I dare you to admit your Screech crush!" Bella buongiorno and toss her a Dating-Game air kiss...mmmwwwah!From Tessa: Bellas, thank you so much for having me! It’s so exciting to be back here at RBTB.

I can’t even begin to tell you about my debut novel without first sharing what Michelle did for me, once upon a time. Back in early 2007, I was an aspiring author with a half-finished manuscript and a complete ignorance of how the publishing industry works…but by virtue of winning a crazy little contest, I scored Michelle’s invitation to come guest-blog here. Because Michelle is a gracious hostess, she read the excerpt of my then-work-in-progress I’d posted on my website, and she very politely said, “Oh, I can’t wait to read the whole book.”So I said, “Can I send it to you?”

I still can’t believe I asked that. Really, if I’d known then what I know now, I never would have had the guts. But amazingly enough, Michelle said yes! I sent my manuscript to her, and she read it that very week, and then she sent me an email saying she’d loved it, and invited me to call her. She then talked to me on the phone for almost an hour, giving me all sorts of encouraging praise and much-needed suggestions. I knew then what generous advice she was giving me, but I didn’t realize until much later just how rare it is for anyone to offer that give that kind of time, effort, and encouragement to a completely unknown unpublished author. I will always be grateful to her for that.

Several months later I sold that very book to Ballantine, and now "Goddess of the Hunt" is releasing next month (July 28) as the first in a back-to-back trilogy of Regency-set historical romances.

In "Goddess of the Hunt," Lucy Waltham has been in “love” with one of her brother’s best friends since she was a girl. When the dashingly handsome Sir Toby Aldridge plans to marry another, Lucy snaps into action, determined to snag him first. She might lack for beauty and grace, but no one can match Lucy for determination or daring. When she sets her sights on a target—or a man—she will have him.There’s just one problem. Toby’s the wrong man for her entirely. And it takes several heated arguments and some very hot interludes with her true hero, Jeremy Trescott, the Earl of Kendall, before she can let go of that girlhood infatuation and embrace a woman’s desire.

Now, I love a childhood-sweethearts romance just as much as the next girl, but I’d guess most of us are pretty lucky we didn’t choose our life partners in the sixth grade. I can’t help but wonder, if I could have married my dream man at age ten or eleven, who would I be with today? Maybe one of these guys…

Yes, that’s Ricky Schroeder in his "Silver Spoons" days. And Matthew Laborteaux, who played Albert in TV’s "Little House on the Prairie." A year or so later, I developed a powerful fixation on Corey Haim. Obviously I had a clear set of requirements for husband-material in my pre-adolescent imagination, and it began and ended with one word: Dimples.

So who did it for you, back when you barely knew what “it” was? (Yes, this question may date you.) David Cassidy? Elvis? A New Kid on the Block? And just what it is about those dimples?

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Oh, this is will be one of those days when women 'of an age' like myself start feeling more 'of an age...' Buongiorno, Bellas and welcome back, Tessa! I'm so excited about your new series and this debut! Of course, I need to clarify your story -- not that I enjoy correcting a guest in my home -- but I seem to remember begging you to read your manuscript, then feeling like you were being really polite in listening to my thoughts. Still, it was really exciting to see Goddess in published form, and now to get jazzed for the whole bunch.

And on top of that, to meet the men of your books. Yeah, yeah, I know how everybody's so thrilled w/how heroine driven these novels are. But, you know me, and I'm so glad you're spending some time in praise of your mens.

In the spirit of today's, um, spirit, I'll add that I was a fan of the big blonde guy on Little House whom i think married the older sister. And my first tv crushes were Davy Jones, some guy on voyage to the bottom of the sea, but I don't remember much about him. Generally, if there was a guy I felt empathy for, I was in love; sorta like going for the puppy in the litter the other ones didn't play with . That doesn't work so well in real life.

I need to hear more about the NKOTB thing, cause I kinda missed it. Jules, which one/s were you all about?

Hey Tessa, I'm really looking forward to reading this. (Adding to B&N wishlist). Would I want to marry the boy I loved for 4 years in grade school, Jason Westphal? I don't know, not having seen him since I was twelve. People change so much.

Your book sounds like there's a lot of chemistry between the h/hn, what with all the arguing going on. Sounds very hawt. We love hawt ;)

Oh I loved LHotP with Matthew Laborteaux. Such a cutie. And the guy who played Willie on the show, Melissa Gilbert's brother - he grew up verra nicely. I also had a huge crush on Rob Lowe, right before he was caught with those teenage girls. But hey, he was, and still is, gorgeous. Kirk Cameron from "Growing Pains". Pat Petersen on "Knot's Landing". There were so, so many....

One of my biggest crushes was on the Artful Dodger--yes, the same actor who then went on to play in HR Puffnstuff (talk about dating me) he then went on to drugs, so sad, and now he's gone. And I can't even remember his name.

My 6th grade boyfriend...Tom Good (sheesh--who could forget that name?) he moved away to Arizona. But I bet he grew up to be a fine man.

Michelle--I so missed the NKOTB craze. A wee bit too old for that phenom.

Honestly, I really can't tell you how it feels to come back and guest blog at RBTB. It's almost nostalgic, which is appropriate for the topic, I suppose. :)

Like Michelle mentioned, I have a back-to-back trilogy coming out in late July/Aug/Sept, and Michelle has been good enough to invite me to come blog about each of them as they release--and since the heroines get so much focus on the covers and titles, we thought we'd put some focus on the heroes here at RBTB.

So I'll be here to introduce Jeremy, the hero of Goddess of the Hunt, in about 7 weeks. But to start, I thought I'd explain what he's not--Tiger Beat material. :)

I love hearing all these crushes! I shared so many of them. Kirk Cameron, check. Michael J. Fox, check. I was a little too old to be heavy into NKOTB, but I did attend a concert of theirs one time when a friend got tickets. Oh, the hoardes of screaming girls! And then there were the ones weeping outside, clinging to the bars of the venue gates...

Now I'm just hoping this whole Jonas Brothers thing calms down before my daughter gets old enough to notice!

And I'm sorry, Michelle - you may remember it differently, but the truth is that you were ridiculously patient and generous with me.

Hi Tessa and congrats, Michelle's Fairy Godmother wings and wand show once again. I'm sure we'll be seeing you in the best seller isle,Hmm, my kid crush was don't laugh Pat Boone, in the 50's he had a variety show and I was about 5 and my mom told me that I used to sit and stare at the tiny tv screen and tell my parents that I would marry him some day. When I grew up a little it was Ricky Nelson and later still don't laugh again but Peter Tork from the Monkeys.

Hi, Lindsey! (BTW, another someone who has been ridiculously patient and generous with me, and my books are so much better for it.)

Too funny, that we cross posted about Tiger Beat. Oddly enough, I never watched 90210. By then, I was in my high school "I'm too cool to like popular stuff, yet too scared of needles and hair dye to go goth" phase.

Hi, Debbie! I sense a definite musical trend in your crushes, and I can relate. What is it about musical talent that is so universally appealing? And the best ones are those guys who can make you believe they're singing just for *you*...sigh. Dreamy.

Hi Tessa! So excited for your debut. I can already tell it's going to take Romancelandia by storm:)

Sigh, childhood crushes. I had a ton of them. Jimmy McNicol anyone? And Michelle, I too had a crush on Davy Jones. I blame the British accent. Luke Duke. AJ Simon. Magnum PI. And definitely Albert and Almonzo on Little House. Sigh. They were dreamy.

LOL!! Please tell me again how young I am. With a teenager and two other wanna be teens in the house, I don't get to hear that very often. ;o)Jordan was my fav NKOTB but I would've screamed and cried over any one of them.Tessa, I'm so jealous that you got to go to a concert. They never came near enough to me to get to go to one. However I hear they're doing a reunion so maybe there's a chance yet.

Daughter#1 went through the Jonas phase and has pretty much moved on, thank goodness. Now the world revolves around Twilight and all its hunks. As I've read all the books twice I can't say I blame her. =o)

Hi Tessa! I'm also waiting impatiently for Goddess of the Hunt. And can I just say how much I adore your covers? Beautiful!

OK, maybe I'm dating myself, but I loved to watch old movies when I was young. I think my first crush was Yul Brynner in The King and I. Man, did I cry. And I loved anything with Errol Flynn, but especially Captain Blood. In a bit of a more contemporary vein, like Manda, I loved Magnum. Then there was the very young Bruce Willis in Moonlighting.

Does anyone remember that vampire soap, Dark Shadows? I loved David Selby. God, he set my pre-teen heart a-fluttering!

We didn't have a TV when I was little, so I had no TV stars to drool over! Although when I was at my Grandma's house I did see a few episodes of Battlestar Galactica and couldn't decide between Starbuck and Appollo. My first real crush was when I was a teenager--I was in love with John Taylor from Duran Duran.

But I loved boys from books, too. I had a thing for Prince Caspian, and for Manly from the Little House books. LOL!

Hi Tessa, I love the story about your and Michelle's "shared past". Sounds like something one could use in a book. :) And that book of yours really sounds interesting!

I'm somehow not the kind of girl to have a serious crush on anyone (anyone I don't know personally, that is) but I really, really liked Christian Slater. We watched "Name Of The Rose" at school when I was thirteen or something and he really impressed me. Later in "Robin Hood" with Kevin Costner he caught my eye, too.And Robert Redford's cool, too. He's kinda old today but he's supersexy in "The Sting", for example.

Hi, Bellas!Have dropped off the darelings at preschool and am now at the office (read: Corner Bakery) to work...

Lori, we must be close in age, since we liked all the same guys. I remember reading interview after interview with Corey Haim in teen mags. They all said the same thing (because his publicist probably answered them!). Being a fangirl was so different before the internet wasn't it?

Jennifer, Rick S was a cutie! and I agree, there is nothing like an impressive display of vocabulary to engage my heart. :)

Jennifer H - hi! You have me trying to remember my book crushes...any male lead in a Robin McKinley book, for starters. Corlath in The Blue Sword, Beast in Beauty.

Lisa, my favorite Christian Slater movies were Pump Up the Volume and Untamed Heart. He played the snarky, sexy rebel sooo well.

Hi Tessa,Congrats on your upcoming debut. I love series that are released back to back, less waiting time. I had a big crush on River Phoenix. I first noticed him "Stand By Me" and "The Mosquito Coast."

Thanks, Michelle, for that "women of a certain age" caveat. Nice to know I'm not the only one.

Davy Jones of the Monkees and John Lennon were two of my early crushes; I also loved movie musicals, so Yul Brenner, Rex Harrison and Robert Preston were my "much older guy" heartthrobs. I crushed on Sean Connery, Richard Burton and lots of other British actors, too.

Definitely a theme there, as I am a sucker for an accent to this day. Which pleases my partner, as he is British and we spend a few weeks a year over there.

Book crushes -- wow, that's a whole different thing. All the men in Louisa May Alcott's books, for me, and then Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre and Aragorn in LOTR.

I loved Tessa's novella, The Legend of the Werestag, and I'm really looking forward to her full-length works and her posts here about the men in her books. My younger daughter's name is Tessa, too (although she prefers "just Tess").

Tessa, I just added your 3 books to my wishlist - wow, the covers are just gorgeous :)

Yes, Dirk Benefict from Battlestar Galactica and The A-Team was yummy. A young Mark Harmon in 240 Roberts - remember that show? And the firefighter one. The main character was a soap star on "Loving". Can't think of his name. It's amazing what you can remember when it comes to the hotties ;)

Congratulations on your success, Tessa! Exciting, isn't it? As for crushes, the Cassidy boys were cute, but the minute I saw Johnny Depp in 21 Jump Street, I was hooked. I haven't looked back. Still loving the tall, dark, and handsome types!Margay

Hey, Bellas! Congrats, Tess! Love the crushes on your brother's best friend, as well!Hmmm...Probably no one remembers the show 'Seaquest' but I remember watching it when I was like 13, took one look at Jonathan Brandis, and fell madly in puppy love, as my grandma called it. And she was absolutely right. Kevin Costner in 'Robin Hood' also stole my young heart. In fact, if memory serves me, me and my sister used to fight over him, hehe.Ooohh, the memories. Debbie, I can definately understand the whole musical guy thing, as I still have a thing for Brad Arnold of 3 Doors Down. YUM!

Thanks, Jane! Oh, young River Phoenix was adorable! And so talented. It's tragic that he's not with us anymore.

Pearl and Juli, thanks to both of your for stopping by, and for reading my novella! For anyone who doesn't know, I published a quirky little e-novella last month, called THE LEGEND OF THE WERESTAG. It takes a humorous look at some paranormal themes, in the context of a straight-up Regency setting. If you're curious, you can read more about it here. I never watched Battlestar Galactica (must have been on past my bedtime) sadly, but I *still* have a crush on Rochester!

Stacy, thanks so much for your interest in my books! I agree, Mark Harmon was yummy - but he lost me when he played Ted Bundy in that TV movie. eek.

Courtney, it's amazing what success you've achieved in life, what with your stunted pop-culture beginnings. :) In case anyone doesn't know, Courtney Milan has a quite crushable hero of her own coming out in Jan 2010 - the Gareth Carhart, in PROOF BY SEDUCTION.

Margay, how could I forget Johnny Depp?? Add him to the list of those whose hotness knows no end. Have you seen the trailer for Public Enemies? It's here.

Yes, I have seen the trailer! And can I just say, WOW!!! I loved him as Jack Sparrow, but it's nice to see him all clean-shaven, even if it is to play a criminal! Thanks for the link, though. My daughter hasn't seen it yet, so I'm going to send it to her.Margay

ack! billie jo, we never got to hook up at the Foster/Castell get together! I'm so sorry. The video stuff took so much longer than expected, I was so bumming. I'll totally be there next year and hope you'll let me stalk you.

principessa, the other day I was trying to remember who had the brad arnold crush and, hey, it's you!

margay! that's captain Jack sparrow. Just in case you were wonderin. :)

Ashley, you and about a bazillion other women really fell for that "loser" Bon Jovi. What ever happened to him...?

omg, janga, tina and brad on amc. holy god, what a blast.

oh, courtney, I'm still hot for Nat in "Witch of Blackbird Pond." And, no, cheeky Bellas, it doesn't make me creepy if it's a fictional young young guy. Remember that.

you're in good company, juli. yeah, the British thing. It really can add, like, a good 10-15 points to perceived iq, no prob, aside from upping the sexy quotient.

Hi, pearl! When people started talking Bat Gal again, I was like, 'what, is it in reruns?' Yeah, I'm pretty pathetic w/the tv stuff.

stace, didn't mark harmon play a dr on something?

lisa, dunno why, but your story reminds me of my old crush on mel gibson in mutiny on the bounty. I've since gotten way over him. funnily, i don't tend to get crushes on real=life guys. weird. I neeed to get out more.

vanessa!!!! oh, yeah, he was creepy cool in DS! Thanks for the reminder.

Hi, Tessa! I also had a crush on Corey Haim and, I'm embarrassed to admit this one, on Joey from New Kids On The Block. There was also Tom Cruise, especially in Top Gun and, sigh, Days of Thunder. So, I guess I was always attracted to the charmer.

Speaking of dimples, I had a crush on a young Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yates on Rawhide. Then a few years later my aunt got me into those old classic movies on late night TV - Gary Cooper, charmingly sweet and boyish, then that rebel, James Dean.

Hi Tessa, and can't wait for these three books to come out! :) Me. . . hmm. . . in high school I remember briefly liking Kevin Costner (got out of that quick when I discovered Sean Connery!). . . and discovered the Original Trek reruns after the Next Generation came out, so totally loved Commander Riker, and Captain Kirk. . . boy, I can't think right now, but that's a couple anyway. . . and right or not for me, they sure are vastly older than me! LOL

I'm new to your work; the upcoming trilogy sounds like it is going to be a super read though :)!

Ok Billy Idol was my first famous crush when I was all of 5 yrs of age lol. Jordan and Jonathan of NKOTB, and Zack and Slater from Saved By the Bell, and all the guys from 90210 were my heart throbs when growing up.

My childhood crush was David Cassidy's brother Shaun. I loved that boy with a passion. I also met my husband in the second grade, although I didn't know he was marriage material at the time, I noticed his cute factor:)

Hi Tessa! I've been so looking forward to your book I heard about them a few months back. Whew its finally almost, just another month and a half, groan, yes I keep checking when it will be out! LOL Michelle is a sweetie. I do love to come here and to BN on her posts, we are glad she encouraged you!

Mine was Bobby Sherman! He was on Here Comes The Brides (gosh that's telling my age, but they were in reruns, so there, LOL) I never knew him as a singer but only as on the TV show. I heard that they finally captioned the shows and I can't wait to watch those too!

Back in the day for me it was first Bobby Sherman -- Jeremy on Here Come Brides! -- and then Donny Osmond. Oh, I was a huge goner for Donny! I still have all my Donny and Osmond Brothers albums! Even saw them in concert in Las Vegas a couple of times. Gosh, what memories this is bringing back!

Looking forward to reading your book. Would love the chance to win a copy.

Your debut book sounds awesome, I would love to read it! Let me see who done if for me back in the day. Elvis for one! Then Davy Jones from the MONKEY's, I thought they were fantastic back in my early teen years. Of course it doesn't take much to do it for a teenager!

Oh Glorious Heavens!!!! I have been waiting for Tessa to offer up "Goddess of the Hunt" on the net. And the time has finally come!In publication world, Time is going too slowly and I can barely contain my absolute obsession with this book. I have been hunting high and low, bidding on auctions and scavenging through countless tweets and posts by random authors offering up anything pertaining to Tessa and her work. First the galleys of GOTH were out and a few were up for wins, then WERESTAG ---which I LOVED READING---- and now finally the true book of GOTH is up for grabs before the release date. Ofcourse it would all happen on this blog -- the one blog that surpasses all others. Oh strike me now with bliss and enter me into to win one of those copies.P-L-E-A-S-E!!About my high school crush -- Charlie Sheen in Wall Street. It was an insane crush! I was about 16he looked well into his late 20's, I liked older men even then. Dimples? mnnhh I never really liked them, maybe because my best friend had them and I always thought they looked girly. I do confess to having seriously dirty dreams about a certain friends older brother --- does that count?Now my charlie, he wasnt an older brother, not did he have dimples, and he was a stag alright, if only I was like Lucy and a goddess of the hunt, maybe then Charlie would have been mine. Alas, I am not Lucy, but I sure cant wait to read about her.Tessa, your talent, combined with your luck and Michelle's generosity will inspire me to be more blatant with my writing and braver with requests for people to review my work. You never know, there might be another Michelle out there just waiting to take a look!Thanks to you both.

Hi Tessa! Okay, don't laugh... my age 7-10 crush was Donny Osmond. I actually belonged to the Osmond fan club! From then until about 13 years old, it was The Bay City Rollers!! I had posters literally wallpapered on my walls!! I did get to see them in concert a few times and actually got to meet 2 of them and hang out after their shows!(when I met them I was in my 20's) I was on cloud nine! I would still go to see them to this day if they played anywhere near!

Tessa, it sure is good to see the building buzz and excitement as GOTH's release date draws near. As to being lucky about Michelle's critique, here's how I see it: Put two kind, generous people together, and they'll be great to each other.

As a teen, I was a sucker for a head of curly hair. Make that messy, curly hair and you had me.

PS: I've won recent love from Tessa and Michelle, so please count me out of the contest.

Oh, wow! Look at all these people who kept coming by and commenting! Thank you so much, Virginia, Louise, Tamara, Portia, Laurie, Jody, Keira, and Scottsgal. And thanks again to Michelle for having me.

My first movie star crush was probably Tony Curtis in Some Like it Hot or Cary Grant in Bringing Up Baby. This doesn't date me as accurately as you might think; my parents just happened to think those movies were essential to my development. : )

Later on, I swooned for Christian Slater (Heather! Untamed Heart!!), Keanu Reeves (I'm probably the only person alive who actually thinks he's a good actor) and Josh Brolin when he was on Young Riders. Why won't that show come out on DVD?